Turn To Speak
by Azabeth Or Otherwise
Summary: "I've never understood those two! He is a violent psychotic jerk; she is over-controlling and emotionally unavailable; how do they make it work?" Piz and Duncan talk about a certain girl from their past lives and her significant other ... Oh, what do they know? LoVe


**Disclaimer: do not own.**

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Someone said people don't really listen to you; they only wait for their turn to speak. While debatable, there are places on earth where that saying often rings and even screams truth. Those are bars and gin joints of every variety, where people wander in to consume some liquid escape. And with escape comes talking.

That's the way it works for the population of the entire planet, no matter where are you at, Phuket or Antananarivo, South California or South Australia, a block away from your family house or oceans away from your homeland.

An old man in a cowboy hat and with grey rampant moustaches finished the story he was relaying to the ever attentive bartender, because everyone else seemed to be deep in their own thoughts, and queried, "Alright kiddos, I get me, why I am here in this ungodly hour, but what the hell young lads like you," He turned to look first at the young man to his left, then at the one to his right, "You two are doing here? Let me guess", He narrowed his eyes at them. "A woman, right?"

Both young men turned their heads to look at the old man and then at each other.

"That's what I thought." The man shook his head disapproving. "I'll let you know, in your brooding you missed quite an entertaining story here." He admonished and, finishing his drink in one swallow, left the unnaturally quiet little pub situated at the very heart of Adelaide, Australia.

"Keep it coming". Both men said in unison to the bartender pointing to their drinks. They exchanged glances, amused, and small talk started flowing.

"So what brings you here, lady troubles, really?" First man asked.

"No, no, no, I wouldn't say that. I'm married, happily, so honestly, I don't care, really." He shrugged. "My ex-girlfriend sent me an invitation to her wedding." He explained finally.

The second man looked at him strangely.

"Yeah, they tend to do that. Get married. When you literally least expect." He mused. "I'm here for the same reason, can you believe it? Though, I wasn't invited, obviously. We severed all ties and stopped communicating when I… when I had to move here. So I get to know about the happy day form a newspaper!" He explained a bit angrily.

"Huh. I didn't know they still print wedding announcement in papers." The other man said surprised.

"Not exactly, but, whatever. I think I was sort of hoping she will wait for me. She promised. Or did she?" He wasn't very drunk but for some reason it was hard for him to tell what happened back then from what he wished had happened. "We were supposed to raise our child together, and now what, she's marrying _him_!" He slapped the palm of his hand at the bar counter as if smashing something would do any good.

"Whoa, you two have a _child_ together?"

"No _I_ have a child, and we wanted to raise her together. And I thought maybe she still wanted that, but I guess that was long time ago. So hence me here, walking down the memory lane, and some rum to lubricate it… Shit, that won't do, that seems like his joke, not mine. We all used to be friends, you know." He finished wistfully.

"It's harder when you are friends. You have to stay on good terms even after the break-up, even if you hate it and want to never see either of them. But at the same time she is a friend and you don't want to lose that."

"Well, I wouldn't know. We didn't have a proper break-up. I had to leave and we were in love at the moment, this guy wasn't even a blip on her radar, still shouldn't be... How did he do this, she loved _me_! He had no right to steal her like that." Young man frowned petulantly.

"Is it fair to call it _stealing_ when you're not around and… I don't know, were you planning to come back, did _she_ know it and went behind your back?"

"No, I still can't come back. Because of some… major stuff. When we were saying our goodbyes, I told her I would love her always, and she… Well she didn't say it back, but she doesn't like saying such things out loud, still I _saw_ it in her eyes. I guess I just expected her to wait for me, like I waited. Not that there weren't other women of course. In some way, I still think if I come there right now, or even burst in during the wedding, all I would have to do is just ask her to come with me, and she would follow." In the heat of his monologue, he started waving his hands almost frantically. "Her place is next to me, not _him_". He spat out the last word.

The other man followed his angry movements warily.

"My name is Stosh by the way." Piz said in a way of placating the angry man.

"Ted." Duncan supplied after short pause.

"Well I don't regret anything." Piz thought aloud. "She's not the woman I could be happy with in a long run. Not to mention this little fact of her being head over heels in love with other man. I'm here just reminiscing, _not_ imagining being in his place. God forbid." Piz added sincerely as a second thought. "She is just too _intense_ of a person. You don't stay and have family with a woman like that, but you never forget them either."

"But how about the guy she's marrying? He stays with her to have a family. Or is it some shotgun wedding, a hasty union?"

"Their union is many things but not hasty, trust me. They've been together for what, seven years now. And I mean together _incessantly_."

"Incessantly how?"

"Seven years without breaking up their "on-again" stage. I think now you can't call them "on-again-off-again" anymore, they are like, forever. The wedding is just an extra proof of what everyone already knows. But to sum up all their time together, I'm not sure, no one told me how things went before college, but I suppose it will easily be a decade."

"They sound serious."

"And I think there's a reason for that. I mean he is probably the only person on earth who is capable of building something solid with her. Even if I don't like the guy. Many fell for her, many will fall, but she is difficult. She's easy to _fall in love with _and much harder to _love_."

"Tough break-up?" Duncan guessed.

"Hmm, is there such thing as tough amicable break-up? No? That's what I thought. Well I think it was more like, tough on my side and amicable on hers. It's hard on her when she can't keep all the people she cares about in her life, so we stayed friends. Sort of pathetic of me. Because you know... I should have known back then I was just a rebound. But I was in love so obviously I didn't see what's been right under my nose. Though it is easier to live with when you know she left me for the guy she is marrying and not some random fling"

"Well my girl is _marrying_ a random fling. I mean, he was sort of rebound guy for her to get over me in high school, she dumped him not a month after I returned, to be back with me, we had a blissful year, so I just keep thinking, how the hell did this happen? I used to dream of marrying her one day when things get better, starting a family... You see, _unlike_ your ex, she is so sweet, and gentle, and caring, it is extremely easy to see a future with her. And this _former_ friend of mine, her _future_ husband, not so much. He is shallow, he is a womanizer, and he is not even into her type of beauty. I get that they could hook up, but wedding? How... when... What does she see in him? They have absolutely nothing in common! I know them well enough to say." Duncan was getting frustrated. He knew he would regret his harsh words about his friend, but right now he couldn't find it in him to be understanding.

"If you were friends, doesn't this mean that by dating her he broke some bro code?"

"They both broke the code so I didn't even know how to process all that back then. He used to date her best friend". He clarified.

"What a pair, seems like they deserve each other".

"That's a bit more complicated than you think, I don't want to go that deep, I don't need a depression right now, my daughter isn't going to approve."

Piz mulled over his tale a bit. His eyes were unfocused already but his thoughts still were on track.

"Our stories may be completely different, like, polar opposites probably," He said at last, "But what I have to second, I've never understood those two. My ex and her ex I mean. Oh, errr... I think I'm getting in… inebriated. My ex and her ex future... shit. I got lost. _Them_. I've never understood _them_. He is a violent psychotic jerk."

"Yep".

"She is over-controlling and emotionally unavailable".

"Nope."

"Hey it's not a competition, cut it out!"

Duncan waved his hand sloppily urging Piz to continue.

"How can he be fine with all her crazy trust issues? I am a very patient person, but I had to put an end to that. And he is overly jealous while she likes her free space, how she puts up with that? And he is overprotective, and she hates being watched over like a child. I respected that and let her be, and we didn't work. _He_ never stops fussing over her, she hates it, and _they_ work, huh! Does it make all the difference that he thinks all problems can be fixed with fists and someone else doesn't?" Piz asked no one in particular. Duncan sat somber and silent at those words. "Not that I wish to be him, really, I'm happy with my wife, she's wonderful, she's… more like the girl you describe, maybe. I think this is what's better for me. I just don't like it that I don't get it." Piz whined drunkenly.

"Your rival is at least protective, my friend was really harsh on her, he used to humiliate her and spread nasty rumors about her, I never thought she forgave him, but she apparently did, didn't she now?" Duncan switches the conversation back to himself.

"I thought you said you were all friends, now you say he hated her, I'm confused."

"That's why I also said it was complicated."

"So what do you think, a bad boy charm worked?" Piz mused.

"Seems to me you are projecting right now." Duncan could be perceptive sometimes, especially when he was basically doing the same.

"Dunno. Everyone keeps telling me that he is more than that bad boy charm and whatnot, but it's not like we're friends, so how the hell would I know. Not two months after our break-up they were back together, and I was having myself a pity-party, because she was so fine and bright like there were nothing wrong between us, and the thing is she really though so, and it was painful. I was still in love with her after all. And my friend said, they had _pretty ugly pasts_, like it was bound to explain to me the mystery of their 'epic' love story." Piz made very angry air quotes as if trying to stab an invisible enemy with them.

"How come ugly past is a good thing for a relationship?"

"No man, I said _pasts_, plural, like in _separately_. And to be honest, lots of things that you or I think a killer for relationship make sense with them. If there is such thing as destiny, that would be about them."

"Couple made in heaven then?"

Piz snorted at that and took a sip from his glass.

"More like in _hell_. Probably they are really a better match than I thought." He said as if the thought just hit him. "If they were with some other people they would probably destroy them, ruin them forever and make everyone around them miserable. That's actually what happened every time they were not together. I mean look how bad you have it over a sweet girl." He pointed at Duncan. "Imagine what it might be to fall hard for a train wreck like _my_ ex." Piz frowned at the thought.

Duncan pondered over his words and then wisely noted,

"It doesn't matter if you fall for a perfect girl or, how you put it, a train wreck. It's still as painful as it gets."

There was a pause in conversation when both men sat quietly remembering each their own. The bartender noticed and refilled their drinks. These customers weren't overly drunk yet he noticed, despite the amount of liquor each of them had consumed. They were too engrossed in the conversation to get drunk, he smirked to himself. He was working the job for quite some time now and could tell many different ways and reasons people drank for. Those two may have started the night to get wasted, but the conversation changed their plans it seemed. Talking is good, he mused, shifting his attention to other customers.

"Good thing you're not invited." Piz resumed their conversation. "I am, and we are sort of friends still, so I'm expected to attend. I'm not sure I want to be there. And I'm dead sure my wife doesn't want me to be there. And she's pregnant, thirty weeks already, so she can't fly and the wedding is all the way back in the USA."

"Oh, so you are from the States?" Duncan perked up at the mention of his homeland. "And more specifically?"

"Beaverton, Oregon." Piz clarified automatically and Duncan nodded. "And you are?"

"I'm from… No, I'm local. I moved here after graduating in Perth."

Piz nodded absent-mindedly and continued with the thoughts whirling in his head.

"She's not designed for weddings. Or for family. She's like some wild endangered species. You have to be careful around them because you afraid to make a mistake and lose them. All the while some other guy is allowed to make numerous mistakes and to take numerous tries and in the end he gets the girl. I have to acknowledge that it must be love because otherwise I'm out of my depth."

"White wedding would suit her perfectly. I used to imagine it, and she always had her hair long in my imagination, even after she made a haircut. I wonder what her hair looks like now."

"She would look nice with a short hair." Piz noted, lost in his own musings, not quite realizing whom they were talking about now. "Though I doubt they're up to traditional white wedding. Maybe something more along the lines..."

"What if she's marrying him because she was tired of waiting for me?"

Dangerous path, Piz though, don't go there, Ted!

"Man, don't get hang up on that." He tried to reason with him. "Time goes by, people are a-changing, that's the way it goes. If she is such a pure flower you describe her to be, she won't do something stupid like marrying for the sake of being married". Though, Piz speculated, what the hell could he know about some stranger goody-two-shoes sleeping with friend's exes and ex's friends. Ouch, one too conflicting thought for his drunken haze of a brain right now.

"You are right, you know." Duncan responded readily. "But it makes it worse. It means she has some feelings for him, and that wouldn't happen if I have never left. We would still be together. _It would be me_". He knapped the last words.

"And why did you leave?"

Duncan said nothing and Piz realized his prodding was unwelcome.

"Sorry, I never meant to pry, really. Just, was it worth it, leaving?"

"Yes." Duncan answered without hesitation. "It was for my daughter".

"Well then you have your answer. It was your child against a girl you might or _might not_ be with all these years later. I guess it's obvious you made the right choice. Come on, she is marrying him, not just dating, it must mean something. She might have still chosen him over you at some point over the years. Maybe your departure just saved everyone time and trouble."

"Now you'll say, let bygones be bygones." Duncan only half joked.

"Exactly!" Piz himself was surprised at this epiphany he was having. "Let go of some vague fantasies of the girl you left in Perth or wherever. In fact you ought them a thank you, they provided you with a closure you need. Try to be happy for your _friends_. We both can be happy for them, for our ex-girlfriends. They meant a lot, so their happy endings also should mean something. I mean I am happy, even if it doesn't look that way. I resent the guy, but I'm happy they have what they have. Whatever it is, I've no idea, but it is something _monumental_, that much I know."

"So you _are_ saying let bygones be bygones?"

"Let bygones be bygones." Piz held his glass in a toast and Duncan readily clanged his glass with Piz's.

"Hey, the pep talk worked! On me at least." Piz exclaimed with a smile a moment later.

They sat silently few more minutes, Duncan trying to let go, like Stosh urged him to do, because it must be the right thing, really; Piz making the right decision. Finally he raised his head and looked at Duncan.

"So I decided. I'm not going." He extracted neat white card from his pocket and dropped in at the counter. "I mean my wife's just about to give birth, social gatherings are not exactly top of my priority. I'll explain her that Kelly might go into labor the day of her wedding, give or take, she will understand."

"A boy or a girl?" Duncan asked with a smile. Kids worth any failed romances, that much he was sure of.

"A girl." Piz smiled.

"I have a girl too." Duncan's smile widened and he did what every proud parent done many times in their lives: he took out his wallet and showed Piz Lilly's picture.

"She's adorable." Piz approved sincerely. "And looks so happy." He was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. "Hey, you should come over to have dinner with me and Kelly some time, she would love to hear about you and your daughter!"

"I think that can be done." Duncan answered surprised. He was short on friends all these years in Australia. Who would have thought an ordinary drunken conversation would come to that.

"Well," Piz concluded as if reading his mind, "This is settled then! I think it might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Or whatever, you know what I mean, movie quotes are not exactly my forte."

"Neither they're mine." Duncan agreed shaking hands with the young man who was already in a hurry to leave and go back home where his family awaited.

Duncan downed his drink and got up as well, it was time to get back home. Lilly was having a sleepover at her friend's but it wouldn't do for a responsible young father to drink his gloom away all night straight.

Just before he turned to leave, his eyes fell on the card on the counter. _"Save the date for celebrate the union of"_, it said on the exterior. He realized suddenly, not once during the evening had Stosh mentioned the name of his femme fatale. Curious he opened the card.

_"__Veronica and Logan…"_

He stared at the letters. Then he shook his head.

"Of all the gin joints in the world," He said dumbfounded, "And _literally_, at that".

"You were saying?" Bartender asked.

"Yes. Fill my glass again, please."

**The End**

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**A/N: First sentence is a paraphrase of Chuck Palahniuk's words from Fight Club; Piz and Duncan both try to quote famous lines from Casablanca, more or less successfully.**


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